Thursday, May 14, 2009

Triple-Salad Treat

The Menu: A trio of totally terrific salads! For his upcoming July+August High-Tech Chef column, Jesse demystifies the pressure cooker, and was kind enough to come by the VNHQ today and show us the tricks of the trade. The resulting salads were absolutely delicious. Starting from the right we enjoyed a pressure-free green salad with pea shoots, mixed greens, avocado, and candied pecans. Moving clockwise, a fabulous chickpea salad with cucumber, tomato, red pepper, and fresh herbs, and then finally a runner-bean salad with halved cherry tomatoes and fresh basil. A side of rustic bread perfectly rounded out our colorful plates.

The Goods: OK, we admit it, we're totally spoiled. Not only do we have the world's best food columnists, but some of them are even local and can come make outrageously good lunches for us! And, we're very happy to report that the pressure cooker did not even explode once while Jesse was at work. Want the recipes for these stellar salads? Sorry, you'll have to wait for the next issue of VN. In the meantime, don't forget to vote for your favorite Café VegNews entries in our first-ever showdown! The entries with the most votes will be featured in our September+October issue, with recipes to boot! Oh, and the VNHQ will be closed tomorrow due to the crazy weekend schedule of VN staffers—we'll be at the Chicago Green Festival, Los Angeles Worldfest, Farm Sanctuary Hoe Down, and Bay to Breakers. Have a great weekend, and if you're attending one of these shows, stop by and say hello!